Hoke's Run was a Civil War engagement fought in West Virginia, 1861. It was a Union victory.
On July 2, Maj. Gen. Robert Patterson's division crossed the Potomac River near Williamsport and marched on the main road to Martinsburg. Near Hoke's Run, Abercrombie's and Thomas's brigades encountered regiments of T.J. Jackson's brigade, driving them back slowly. Jackson's orders were to delay the Federal advance only, which he did, withdrawing before Patterson's larger force. On July 3, Patterson occupied Martinsburg but made no further aggressive moves until July 15, when he marched to Bunker Hill. Instead of moving on Winchester, however, Patterson turned east to Charles Town and then withdrew to Harpers Ferry. This retrograde movement took pressure off Confederate forces in the Shenandoah Valley and allowed Johnston's army to march to support Brig. Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard at Manassas. Patterson's inactivity contributed to the Union defeat at First Manassas.
On July 2, 1861, forces clashed in Berkeley County, Virginia, in an action that became known by three different names: Hoke's Run, Falling Waters, and Hainesville. The fight formed part of the Manassas campaign during the American Civil War, and Berkeley County itself would later become part of West Virginia. This encounter holds particular significance because it marked one of the first times Confederate Colonel Thomas J. Jackson led his Brigade of Virginia Volunteers into combat, occurring a full nineteen days before the moniker that would make them famous came into use. Though brief, the skirmish left both sides believing they had delivered a firm rebuke to their opponent. Jackson, following orders from a superior officer on handling a numerically stronger enemy, held off General Robert Patterson's Union troops for a short time before withdrawing gradually across several miles of ground.
On the second of July, Patterson's division made its way across the Potomac near Williamsport, Maryland, pushing forward along the main route toward Martinsburg. The advance brought Union troops under Cols. Abercrombie and Thomas into contact with elements of Jackson's Confederate command near Hoke's Run. Federal forces gradually pushed the Southern regiments backward. For his part, Jackson had been instructed only to slow the Northern advance, a task he carried out before pulling back in the face of Patterson's larger numbers.
Martinsburg fell under Patterson's control on July 3, though he showed no further initiative until the 15th, when his troops advanced to Bunker Hill. Rather than pressing on toward Winchester, he instead veered eastward to Charles Town before pulling his forces back to Harpers Ferry.
This withdrawal proved costly for the Union cause, as it eased the pressure on Confederate troops stationed in the Shenandoah Valley. The relief allowed Brig. Gen. Joseph E. Johnston to lead his Army of the Shenandoah toward Manassas Junction, where he reinforced Brig. Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard. When Union forces suffered their shocking loss at the First Battle of Bull Run on July 21, blame fell squarely on Patterson, despite his absence from that engagement, while the Confederate officer who had faced him at Hoke's Run instead found himself celebrated for his role in the war's first major clash.
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